Lecie Arneren
Lecie Arneren (formerly known as Lecie) is a wandering glory seeker, originating from The Winterlands. History 'Childhood' Gerrold Areneren was the lord of the Saltfields Fort, a Tovarian fortification near the border of Blindkeep, commonly used in the minor skirmishes caused by the Ravens and escaping bandits of the republic. One time a group of rogue Ravens captured a Lauch diplomat, Emaria Dupont, who was passing through and demanded ransom. Originally Tovaria was willing to pay for it, but by the time the negotiations would have started, Gerrold's division have already attacked them, freeing the diplomat. Lecie was born from the affair between the lord and the diplomat, that formed during her stay at the Saltfields Fort. Lecie stayed with her mother for the first four years of her life, until Gerrold learned about his bastard daughter and took her to Proshland, where she stayed with his wife for two years. While she wasn't physically abused, it was obvious that Gerrold's wife hated her, for this reason at the age of six, she returned to her mother for two more years, then his father took her to his fort to raise her like he did with his sons. This constant swapping continued her whole life. Since both parents had very different plans for their bastard daughter, with each change, Lecie was forced to adapt to very different ideals. Her father, taking a great pride in each of his sons' military ambitions, even at a young age, wanted to raise Lecie to join a Winterlander army as well, her mother on the other hand wanted to send her to Lauchette to serve as a royal maid. For this very reason, her culture, religion and political views also remained mixed. 'Teen age' Lecie spent most of her time either in her Father's Fort, training with the other squires or travelling with her mother. She lived a relatively happy life, although aware of her parents' distaste for each other. Gerrold was very dissatisfied with Lecie's bastardhood, as he felt like it remarks badly on his house, he proposed the idea of legitimizing her to the Tovarian lords he interacted with, but they all discouraged him, because of her heritage and King Aiden Royce's opinion of the Lauchmen. Once she turned fourteen, Gerrold legitimized her anyway, and a few months after he sent her south to The Hales, without any explanation other than the vague requirement to not return until she "gains enough glory in battle". It's unknown whether he did it because he feared for her life, or simply because he thought if she gains fame the Prosh and Tovarian lords would favor her more. Lecie was never taken to any of the operations, unlike her older brothers, meaning that while she had some combat training, she lacked experience. It didn't take long for her to venture into Nuvanza and ask the local tribesmen for directions. She was robbed, tied up and left for death in the deserts shortly after. Luckily for the legitimized bastard, she would be soon found by Colin Gaubert, who soon introduced her to Sandra Leone and Edric Royce, all three of them were foreign to the island, and originated from a background Lecie was familiar to, so she befriended them easily. No longer fully trusting the natives, she asked if there are any more Winterlanders or Lauchmen on the island, to which the trio mentioned Black Bear, a former Raven, residing in Aedwin. Remembering his father's hatred and numerous battles with them, she concluded that defeating a Raven would improve her father's opinion of her, so she made it her personal goal, although killing her was never really considered as it would've gone against her mother's andophist teachings. The first fight between the two went horribly for her, not only was she physically smaller and weaker, but she lacked the skill and experience Bear gained during her gladiator and Raven years. While she was possibly only spared because Colin negotiated for her freedom, she did promise that one day she would return to defeat her new rival. Overtime, Colin died while she was away, Sandra and Edric left the island, leaving her without friends, in Hallengard. Although she resided in the northern kingdom, she often made it clear that she doesn't serve either kingdoms. Without any allies or allegiance left for her, she now turned her full attention to competing with Black Bear. It became a habit that she'd duel her each time they've met. Originally Bear was annoyed by her, then eventually got used to her challenger, but never considered her an actual threat. Albeit their rivalry never really died down, the former raven grew fond of her and took it upon herself to teach her how to be an actual warrior. Lecie started imitating her, wanting to become a gladiator, despite not fully understanding what it is, to the dismay of Bear, who saw it more of a mockery. Eventually she told her that she won't be able to be a real warrior, since she wouldn't be able to kill anyone, neither was she ever in any life threatening battles, which was true. At this time The Second Hallengardian Civil War was already on-going, she was already considering enlisting, but it was Black Bear's suggestion that ultimately convinced her. Because of her Lauch heritage, she made her way to Aedwin, which was under Lauch occupation at the time to join up, the Latorans expected her to be a spy, locking her up, but after a guard recognized the House of her mother, she was let out and into the ranks. She was going to be retrained, meaning she wouldn't have been able to take part in any battles for months but she insisted she can help. In the end, a Lauch general let her come to the next battle, the siege of Hallengard. She was still unsatisfied with her role in the siege, not only were there very few Lauchmen deployed, being assigned as a squire meant that she was stuck far behind the defensive lines, helping with minor tasks, such as collecting firewood, cleaning blades and armors, gathering arrows and occasionally treating the injured. Despite her constant nagging to let her fight, the general only allowed to take part of the final offence. The battles weren't as she expected, as she was more used to fair and friendly duels rather than arrows flying at her. Lecie gathered her courage and occasionally fired back, it's unlikely she hit anyone. Ultimately the last wave managed to briefly capture the castle, until Hallengardian reinforcements arrived. Lecie was at the gate of the castle, planning to hold her ground there, but just like Bear predicted, when she was outnumbered by better equipped enemies, she panicked, unable to defend herself. She fell and was executed shortly after by Tor Rövsson and Theutrich Gerbold. Later her corpse was tossed down the cliff, along with her comrades'. Category:Characters Category:Winterlanders